Chapter 4 - Formations, Vessels, Aircraft and Vehicles of the Armed Forces
                   
Table 4.8 Aircraft fleets by type of aircraft for the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, at 1 April each year
From 2006 onwards the term Required Operating Fleet is no longer used and has been replaced by Forward Available Fleet as defined in the introduction to Chapter 4. The Required Operating Fleet was the total number of aircraft needed to undertake the defined military task.
    Required Operating Fleet   Forward Available Fleet
Aircraft type Aircraft role 2004 2005   2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
                   
Merlin Mk 1 Anti-Submarine 33 33 || 27 30 30 28 24
                   
Lynx Mk 3 Anti-Submarine / Anti-Ship 29 29 || 23 21 21 19 13
Lynx Mk 8 Anti-Submarine / Anti-Ship 26 26 || 23 20 20 20 25
                   
Sea King Mk 5 Search & Rescue 12 12 || 11 11 11 11 11
Sea King Mk 6 Anti-Submarine 3 2 || - - - - -
Sea King Mk 7 ASAC Airborne Surveillance and Area Control 10 10 || 9 9 10 10 10
                   
Hawk Fleet Training Support 15 14 || 14 12 12 12 12
                   
Jetstream T2 Aircrew Training 8 8 || 8 8 8 8 8
Jetstream T31 Aircrew Training and Support 3 3 || 3 2 2 - -
Source: MOD Resources and Plans
1. The RN Comms Flight became non-operational during 2008.